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Siloam

(Encyclopedia)Siloam sīlōˈəm [key], pool, SW corner of Jerusalem in the Kidron valley, mentioned in the Bible. A nearby 1,700-foot-long (518 m) tunnel, dating from the time of Hezekiah, diverted water underneat...

detergent

(Encyclopedia)detergent dētûrˈjənt, dĭ– [key], substance that aids in the removal of dirt. Detergents act mainly on the oily films that trap dirt particles. The detergent molecules have a hydrocarbon portion...

grebe

(Encyclopedia)grebe grēb [key], common name for swimming birds found on or near quiet waters in most parts of the world. Grebes resemble the loon and the duck; they have short wings, vestigial tails, and long, ind...

kingfisher

(Encyclopedia)kingfisher, common name for members of the family Alcedinidae, essentially tropical and subtropical land birds, related to the bee-eaters, rollers, and todies. Kingfishers have chunky bodies, short ne...

pile

(Encyclopedia)pile, post of timber, steel, or concrete used to support a structure. Vertical piles, or bearing piles, the most common form, are generally needed for the foundations of bridges, docks, piers, and bui...

Gell-Mann, Murray

(Encyclopedia)Gell-Mann, Murray gĕlˈ-män [key], 1929–2019, American theoretical physicist, b. New York City, grad. Yale 1948, Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1951. He was associated with the Univ....

Appalachian Mountains

(Encyclopedia)Appalachian Mountains ăpəlāˈchən, –chēən, –lăchˈ– [key], mountain system of E North America, extending in a broad belt c.1,600 mi (2,570 km) SW from the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec prov....

Vehmgericht

(Encyclopedia)Vehmgericht fāˈmĭk [key], in medieval Germany, a type of criminal tribunal. The inability of the Holy Roman emperors to exercise effective central control over their lands and the extensive feudal ...

Dutch West India Company

(Encyclopedia)Dutch West India Company, trading and colonizing company, chartered by the States-General of the Dutch republic in 1621 and organized in 1623. Through its agency New Netherland was founded. The phenom...

corporal punishment

(Encyclopedia)corporal punishment, physical chastisement of an offender. At one extreme it includes the death penalty (see capital punishment), but the term usually refers to punishments like flogging, caning, muti...